Surfing can be a dangerous pastime – whether in the traditional, oceanic practice, or in the Brave New World of wavepools.
Here’s just a handful of the hazards: drowning, marine life attacks (i.e. sharks), other surfers in the water (collisions), or collisions with one’s own board and/or fins.
The latter is what happened to one California woman, along with a serious blow to the cranium on the contoured concrete bottom, which left her “lucky to be alive” during a recent trip to Waco Surf, the premier wavepool of Texas.
In a video post on social media, the California surfer explained the horrific ordeal:
“We made a girls trip to the Waco Surf wave pool. By the end of our fourth session, we were having a blast, having really gotten used to the mechanics of the wave. At the end of one of the lefts I went to tuck into the barrel when I got clipped. As I tumbled I hit the bottom, my fin stabbed me in the gut as hard as anything I’ve ever felt. My head slammed on the concrete bottom of the pool. The pain was excruciating, I had a massive egg on my head and a protrusion like an alien fist sticking out of my abdomen.
“CT Scans at the local ER revealed terrifying news: I was bleeding internally from my aorta, the main blood vessel that comes out of the heart and feeds the body. I needed to be transported to a Grade 1 Trauma hospital immediately. They made arrangements to helicopter me to Baylor Hospital, every minute counted. There I was whisked straight into the operating room for emergency surgery.
“When I woke up I heard the news. I had suffered a Grade 3 traumatic aortic rupture. The bulge from my stomach was a traumatic abdominal wall hernia. Because the blow was so strong, they needed to remove all of my internal organs and visually inspect them to ensure there was no other damage. I am left with a massive 11 inch incision spanning the length of my abdomen. The doctors say the best I can hope for is an 80% recovery of my abdominal strength. I spent 5 days in the hospital.
“Although the road to recovery will be long, my overall prognosis is good. There is so much more to this story than I can possibly say or unpack in a social media post. Suffice it to say I have much to be thankful for. I’m lucky to be alive, that Doc Faye was with me likely saved my life. She is a fucking legend! And Veronica who ran point on everything and slept with Faye in the ICU so they could keep an eye on me every second. My sisters Amy and Nicole red-eyed out to Texas to be by my side. I received excellent care every step of the way.
“I’m going to spend a lot of time contemplating the meaning of all this. But don’t worry friends, this WILL NOT BREAK ME! My goal is to be back in the water by Christmas. Love you all. Xx”
***
Don’t miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We’re always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.
Whether you’re a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.